SUVs Populating Australia More Quickly Than Babies

GM Holden says newborn babies may be cute, but Australians don’t love them as much as they love their SUVs.

The automaker delved into maternity-room records to find a baby was born every one minute and 41 seconds last year in Australia, but buyers said hello to a new SUV every one minute and 10 seconds – such is the surging popularity of the SUV market.

Industry recordkeeper VFACTS data shows the SUV market exploded 158% in the last decade, soaring from 171,000 units in 2006 to 440,000 in 2016.

SUVs also, for the first time ever, outsold passenger cars for the first six months of 2017.

Car sales in the first six months were 50,646 units, down 6.8% from year-ago’s 53,832. SUVs, on the other hand, reached 51,393 units, up 5.0% from 46,011.

So, GM Holden says, it’s official: Australia has fallen in love with SUVs and it is giving the market what it wants with plans to debut the all-new Equinox and Acadia SUVs sourced from North America.

“SUVs are more popular than ever and the segment just keeps on growing,” GM Holden Communications Director Sean Poppitt says in a statement.

“Where once SUVs were seen as just the typical ‘soccer mum’ car, or for outback off-road adventures only, that’s no longer the case,” he says. “Aussies love their SUVs and Holden is primed to launch two all-new SUVs into the market by 2018 in the (Chevrolet) Equinox and (GMC) Acadia.”